Uso racional da Mikania glomerata: qualidade e acurácia das informações disponíveis na internet

Abstract

Considering the recent and growing trend of using the Internet to access information related to healthy living habits, including diets, physical activities, therapies and natural medicines, the objectives of the present proposal consisted of (i) exploring the variations between the information of the Internet on the different forms of extemporaneous preparations of Mikania glomerata, a medicinal plant popularly known as guaco; (ii) to evaluate parameters of the rationality of its therapeutic use and (iii) to quantify the concentration of coumarin, the main phytochemical compound of the mentioned medicinal plant, according to the main forms of preparation recommended in the virtual network. For this purpose, a search and content analysis of the pages hosted on the Internet that deal with extemporaneous preparations of M. glomerata was carried out and, later, the information collected was classified according to criteria of safety, efficacy, and rationality in the therapeutic use of the extemporaneous preparations indicated. Finally, the main forms of preparation published on the Internet were reproduced for analysis and comparison of the phytochemical composition, using liquid chromatography and high performance. Considering the evaluation criteria of the Formulário de Fitoterápicos da Farmacopeia Brasileira, the analyzed sites presented some inappropriate topics (botanical nomenclature, pharmacogen, form of preparation, dosage, route, use, indication, contraindication, or adverse effects), making the guidelines of the sites to influence an irrational use of the extemporaneous form.